Which Way for Hurricane Carlos?

Depending on what source you refer to, current/former Hurricane Carlos, currently paralleling the coast of mainland Mexico about 100 miles off Lazaro Cardenas with 70 knots of wind, is: 1) Going to head further out to sea and pretty much be a non-issue; 2) Gather more steam and head toward Cabo Corrientes and threaten Banderas Bay; 3) Going to be less of an issue all the time right where she is. The latter seems to be Passage Weather’s take on things, which nobody else seems to agree with.

The one thing that’s sure is that Carlos, not much of a hurricane at its height, made a mess of boating interests in Acapulco Bay. Photos show a number of nice boats either badly damaged or sunk. As Carlos never came closer to Acapulco than 100 miles, it’s possible that adequate precautions hadn’t been taken for the boats.

That said, hurricanes don’t have to come that close to shore to cause damage. The eye of the last Mexican hurricane, Blanca, didn’t come with 100 miles of Banderas Bay and Puerto Vallarta, yet the surf she generated caused considerable damage along the shores of the bay. But to the best of our knowledge, boats were not damaged.

While Carlos doesn’t to appear anywhere near as bad as it once looked like he would be, this is no time for complacency. If you have a boat in the area from Barra to San Blas, you need to make sure she’s ready for possible strong winds.

Carlos is the third hurricane of the still-young 2015 season.